Justin Chang

Film critic Justin Chang spent a lot of time this year watching movies at festivals and theaters and on his couch. He says that contrary to what popular opinion or gloomy box-office headlines may tell us, 2025 has been the strongest year for new movies in a long time. Here's Justin's list of the best films of the year.

Our film critic, Justin Chang, says the best documentary he's seen this year is a 5 1/2-hour film called "My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air In Moscow." Filmed over several months in late 2021 and early 2022, it follows several independent journalists in Moscow as they deal with the fallout of Vladimir Putin's crackdown on reporters and Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine. "My Undesirable Friends" received a Gotham Award nomination for best documentary and is playing at select venues around the country.

In the new drama "Hamnet," which opens in limited release next week, Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare as a young playwright, husband and father in the years leading up to his writing of "Hamlet." The film, which also stars Jessie Buckley as Agnes, Shakespeare's wife, was adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel. It's the latest movie from Chloe Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of "Nomadland."